Rashtriya Krishi (English)

D. K. Krishna ¹, N. V. Kumbhare ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

Agriculture, as the backbone of Indian economy, plays the most crucial role in the socio-economic sphere of the country. Indian agriculture is a diverse and extensive sector involving a large number of actors which includes farmers, farm women, rural youth, agricultural researchers, extension workers etc. Historically, the Indian agricultural research system is the zenith of a process which started in the 19^th century and which resulted in the establishment of the Imperial (now Indian) Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the recommendation of a Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1929. Since then there was a stupendous evolution of agricultural research in India.It has been one of the remarkable success stories of the post-independence era through the association of Green Revolution technologies even though India has one of the largest and institutionally most complex agricultural research systems in the world. The green revolution contributed to the Indian economy by providing food selfsufficiency and improved rural welfare. One of the highlights of the green revolution era was that the life sciences were augmented with emerging social sciences in the nation to bring about a phenomenal change in the agriculture and allied sectors.

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D. K. Krishna ¹, Rabeesh Kumar Verma ¹, Alok K. Sahoo ¹, N. V. Kumbhare ¹

Affiliations
1 Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

India happens to be the second most populous country on the earth with more than 17 per centa of the World population. About 61.5 per cent of the 130 crores plus population in India is dependent on agriculture. Indian agriculture is characterized by small farm holdings. The average farm size is only 1.57 hectares. Around 93 per cent of farmers have land holdings smaller than 4 ha and they cultivate nearly 55 per cent of the arable land. On the other hand, only 1.6 per cent of the farmers have operational land holdings above 10 ha and they utilize 17.4 per cent of the total cultivated land. Due to diverse agroclimatic conditions in the country, a large number of agricultural items are produced. India is an agrarian economy, green revolution and smaller plot holdings as witnessed by the Asian countries has led to rapid forward strides being made in the agriculture in the last few years. In spite of this, India faces several challenges arising from socio-economic, demographic and institutional sectors that affect its basic survival. In India 85 per cent of the population is directly or indirectly dependent upon agriculture and a vast majority is based in the rural belt. 90 million farmers are dwelling in 6.25lakh villages producing more than 200 MT of food grains feeding the country. Considering the topography of India, in the last few years have seen the concept of rural tourism gaining momentum as an allied area of revenue generation. Realizing this government is encouraging active rural tourism in order to increase revenue generations options for the rural segment.Agri-tourism or agro-tourism involves agriculturally-based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agri-tourism includes the wide variety of activities, including buying produce direct from a farm stand, navigating a corn maze, slopping hogs, picking fruit, feeding animals, or staying at a bed and breakfast on a farm. Since 2004 Agriculture Tourism is operational, it started in Baramati Agri-Tourism Center.

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